WHY CATTLE HAULAGE C, LS FOR EXCEPTIONAL RATES
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A Specialized Branch in Which Hauliers Are Faced with Complicated Conditions Which Make It Essential to Give Special Consideration to Charges
By H. Scott Hall, M.I.A.E., M.I.T.A.
LEAVE not had the opportunity, I since the publication of the standard rates for the haulage of livestock, to discuss the subject with any of my haulier friends who engage in this traffic. So soon as the chance occurs
I propose to do so. • Meantime, considering the matter in the light of current conditions, it
becomes apparent that comparison between these rates and any others formerly in operation is hardly practicable. The conditions under which livestock haulage is carried on are not the same as they used to be before the war, at least, in so far -as 50 per cent, of the work is concerned.
Formerly hauliers collected from farmer customers and took the stock to markets, making up loads when possible by picking up from several farms en route. They took the animals to market and then waited to collect orders from butchers and ot: -r buyers of cattle, delivering, from the market, according to circumstances. The number of delivery points varied considerably and some of them were at a great distance from the market.
Now, there is only one customer in the market—the Ministry of Food— and the delivery points are considerably curtailed both as to number and distance. The number of markets, too, has been reduced.
On the face of it, the new conditions seem to be an improvement on the old. At least, they are simplified and, other things being equal, simplicity makes for all-round improvement.
The business of livestock haulage is a specialized branch of our industry. It is not, if I may be excused the pun, everybody's meat. Special vehicles are required; they are subject to specific regulations, both as to construction and as to operation. Incidentally, these regulations would be less objectionable to hauliers if it were known that they were applied equally everywhere and to everyone, which, so far as my knowledge goes, is not always the case.
It is true that nondescript vehicles can be, and are, used for livestock haulage. and that operators engage in it who have little knowledge and experience of the work. The results are rarely, however, satisfactory, and these are exceptional cases.
In normal times, and to only a slightly less extent to-day, the livestock haulier, who is to make a success of his business, must have rpecialized knowledge. He must be acquainted with his customers and his markets. Above all, he must organize his work with great care if he is to obtain sufficient work to make his vehicles pay their way at the rates which prevail.
The present conditions of outward loading, that is from the markets, are a help, because there is provision for minimum rates and an organization designed to ensure that vehicles leave the markets, if it be at all possible, with full loads. That releases the haulier from some of his cares, or, at Least, it does so long as the distribution as between all hauliers attending a particular market, is a fair one. That is important, and it is a condition which, an far as is possible, is made to prevail.
The need for organizing the other half of his business, his collection from farmers, still remains. Indeed, the need is even more intense—or has been of late —because t h e shortage of foodstuffs for livestock has affected the supply of animals for the markets. Competition for the traffic has been much keener and we all know what competition means to the haulier and the rates he can obtain.
These are some of the factors which complicate his business and make it necessary for the livestock haulier to give careful consideration to the question of rates. They increase the cost, both of operating his vehicles and of organizirig his business, and call for a weekly revenue in excess of what may be regarded as average figures for hauliers, if a profit is to be made.
In the first place, the bodywork of livestock-carrying vehicles is compara tively expensive. That puts up his interest charges. In the second, it is subject to rapid depreciation, as wall as to increased cost of maintenance. Not only is the bodywork knocked about by the cattle themselves, but it suffers from the effect of excreta. Compliance wi"t the special regulations to which I have already referred adds also to the cost of operation, and this must not be overlooked when assessing that cost. I should wake it clear that both the crst of maintenance and depreciation are increased, not merely one or • the other.
In considering the figures for establishment costs, the operator must remember that expenditure in this direction, in connection with livestock haulage, is above the average. A good deal of the work comes over the telephone, and the operator has to use his own telephone very considerably, so that his telephone bills are high. A lot of organization work is necessary in arranging for the collection of the livestock, in order to fit one job in with another, and thus ensure that the vehicles are loaded for the maximum percentage of mileage run. Markets have to be attended, and there must be provision for a certain amount of what is euphemistically called " entertaining."
Above all, a livestock haulier has to make provision for something which,
fortunately for them, does not enter into the experience of other hauliers. He has to guard against the considerable losses arising from the occurrence of foot and mouth disease in the area in which he works, This may mean a four-figure loss in a year.
I have, in the accompanying tables, made provision for these extra costs. The important figures are those show. ing what should be the revenue per week, and the revenue per mile. I seriously suggest to hauliers engaged in this traffic that they should check over their earnings and compare them with these figures, for there can be no doubt that in the event of the revenues fa-IIing short of the data in the tables, one of two things is necessary.
Either they must increase their rates, or they must take steps to ensure that their average loadings are greater than they have been in the past.